Lucrezia Borgia

I was born in 1480, near Rome, to Rodrigo Borgia—later Pope Alexander VI—and Vannozza dei Cattanei. The papal household taught me languages, music, and the careful measure of words. From girlhood my name served treaties. In 1493 I was wed to Giovanni Sforza of Pesaro; four years later the match was undone on the claim it had not been consummated, when politics divided our families more sharply than any priest’s decree.

In 1498 I married Alfonso of Aragon, Duke of Bisceglie, and bore a son, Rodrigo. Two years later Alfonso was murdered, and grief and rumor came to lodge in my chambers alike. Still, duty did not wait upon mourning. My father appointed me to govern Spoleto and Nepi; there I learned to receive petitions, quiet quarrels, and reckon revenues. I kept a rosary and a seal at hand, and used both.

In 1502 I entered Ferrara as the wife of Alfonso d’Este. There I found a steadier station: I acted as regent in my husband’s absences, signed and dated papers, and kept the court’s business in order. Music, poetry, and painting were welcome guests; letters passed between me and Pietro Bembo with a candor finer than gold. My charities and devotions grew with the years. I died in Ferrara in 1519 after childbirth. If you would know me, ask after the town books and the cradle, not the vial.